You've done it, maybe you thought you wouldn't or maybe you thought you could but in either case you are in the final week of the #30DayHusbandFast - welcome to Week Four! How was Week 3 for you? Even more challenging? Spiritually charged? A piece of spiritual manna? Well, as we go into the final week
I'm going to keep praying that you are finding this helpful, transformative and spiritually profound!
But just because it’s the last week don’t give up on the #30DayHusbandFast now – keep going, keep persevering this is the final week, with the last few days focusing on how you can keep going and growing, beyond the 30 days. With God you can do this!
As always, if you want to continue looking over some of the topics of the third week/or prior as we come to the end of the fast - feel free to do so. The weekly themes, daily prayer guidelines, suggested devotionals and readings are ultimately there to inspire direction, but please feel free to switch it up if the Lord is really speaking to you about an area.
But if you're down for the final round, it's Week Four of the #30DayHusbandFast, and I hope this last week will be extremely profound.
Week Four – Love
Love is perhaps one of the most obvious aspects of a marriage, so much so that I wanted to save the best to last – think of it as ending on a ‘lovey-dovey’ high note, without the lovey-dovey stereotypes (bar this gif <-) .
Generally, the themes of the past weeks, Money, Purpose, Communication, how you approach such aspects when it comes to your future Husband, end up being founded on Love. So instead of starting with the obvious, I thought how about we pray about these other important aspects and then end on love.
Love is the reason why we do things, why we say things, why we act in a certain way, and when it comes to your future husband, it should go without saying that you want to be in love with him. But let's take it further, you want that love to be the foundation of why you do things in your marriage and also what you
fall back on in times of difficulty. The source of that love is God, and your future marriage is one way of expressing that, as it’s a physical representation of God’s love. So, it’s important to commit the theme of love to prayer, as it’s the core foundation of what you want to be a successful marriage.
Our very faith is founded on the principle of God’s love for us - John 3:16, 1st John 4:14. So, one of the key aspects of love when it comes to marriage, is both you and your future Husband understanding that God is your first love, before each other. Therefore, with God’s help you can enjoy the spiritual benefits of love within marriage, such as growing deeper in faith personally and with your future Husband. But also, the physical benefits, which mostly tend to revolve around physical intimacy - from cheeky kisses to full blown sex, or as we should say ‘making love’.
Sometimes various aspects of love, in the physical sense, don’t get discussed in a Church setting where ultimately, they really should be. From celibacy to pornography, trust and sexual intimacy in marriage, and so much more. It’s important, not to turn a blind eye to the very real reality of what you and your future Husband may be dealing with now individually, and what you will be dealing with when dating, and then married. That’s why some of these areas will feature in the daily prayer guide this week, so we can acknowledge them in prayer and ultimately commit this to God.
But the reality is, some of these prayer topics, can be hard hitting so by all means if you are not comfortable with some, wish to skip or need to seek some additional help – it’s best to do so. Please do feel free to reach out to myself at chatswithlou@hotmail.com, and I'd be more than happy to send some further information, or help in whatever way I can ;-).
You've probably got the point by now, but in any case the daily guidelines below aren’t exhaustive, but just a general guideline on topics that are to do with purpose. But by all means, take out, add in, swap around what you feel like when it comes to this topic. You may want to spend more than 1 day on a subject – go right ahead. The reality is, purpose shapes our life, so please feel free to focus on that as much as you wish.
Suggested Youversion Bible Plans / Bible Chapters
#Love – 3 Day devotional exploring the concept of Love.
Love and Marriage – 5 Day devotional for married couples exploring love, with thoughts, prayer topics and studies on certain passage. A good one to read in preparation
Sex, Purity and the Longings of a Girl’s Heart – 7 Day devotional which is more focused on us as women and our general journey in singleness and dealing with sexual purity. But can be prayed about in application to your future Husband.
Love Defined – 7 Day devotional discussing God’s vision for relationship, underpinned by His definition of Love written from the perspective of 2 sisters (1 married/1 single).
7 Laws of Love – 7 Day devotional looking at (yep) 7 "laws of love" found in the Bible and how to better put them into action.
Love Restored – 7 Day devotional looking at lust/sexual desire from a biblical viewpoint.
In Addition to the Devotionals or alternatively if you'd rather not do the devotionals here are some Suggested Bible Chapters/Verses to read over the 7 Days
Genesis 2
1st Corinthians 6: 12-end
1st Corinthians 13
Galatians 4&5
1st John 4
Check out Day Twenty Two here!
If for any reason you are jumping into this fast - well, hello there - great to have you on board, I strongly suggest checking out the #30DayHusbandFast intro blog here and also the FAQ's which breaks down certain aspects, questions of the Fast which will help making this post easier to digest. It's best to start this fast from Week 1 as well, so to ease you into the fast.
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